AHHHHH!! I am finally home! Directly from the con, we spent a week packing for our first big, long drive to Wyoming to get our first load of stuff from CA to our new home. It took a week to drive there and back and then another week to get the truck ready for trip #2. It’s early in the AM and I have an hour to myself, so here is part one to followup the story from this summer’s COMICON!!!! Way too many pics to load in one post so more tomorrow.

Wednesday afternoon my buddy Nelson Broskey flew down from Northern California for what was about our 20th trip to the con. We started the trip off with a stop off at the Chiodo Brothers studios in Burbank and then hit the road for San Diego for the premiere opening on Wednesday night. Traffic was awful like always and took a couple of extra hours to get there; once in town the crowds were everywhere and mood from traveler to line warrior switches into high gear. There is always great anxiety about getting to the right door to get your pass and get in, and if you do it correctly the first time it takes about 45 mins to to go the the process. Once your tag is on, you enter the big doors to the multiple acres of booths and a glittering cornucopia of scifi books, sculptures, posters, soundtracks, games, movies and everything else imaginable. There are movie stars from the past and present, as well as all of your favorite artists doing their thing in the artist alley. The crowd at the door and the main back isle is always thick so a quick jet to the middle isle and over to the far west wall starts the glorious hours of wandering up n down every row searching for all the must have items while making sure you don’t spend all your cash at the first booth you come to, HAAAA! The sad part about opening night is that the floor is only open for a couple of hours, not nearly enough time to do anything but wet your appetite for the next day.

The second best part of the adventure about the con is what restaurant do you want, and do you think you’ll be able to get in… The gas light district is a street of old San Diego architecture and is double sided with bars and food joints to meet every style of meals from around the globe. Nelson and I have discovered the Rockin Baja Cantina which is an awesome place to eat and for some reason we have always gotten right in. MMMMMM a way good place with steak n seafood coming to your table literally in buckets.

Day two is the long day and it does take the whole entire day to walk all the isles. Meanwhile there are panels, screenings, and feature presentations in every side room or hall of the place. That is where the big crowds are, and those lines start anywhere from the day before to somewhere in the middle of the night to see the really big events. I only went to one or two before and it was the closest I have ever been to losing my mind and being put into a strait jacket…WAY to much to handle for my little brain and crowd tolerance so I just stick to the floor, HAAA!

Friday comes as the last day for us and we finish the morning with gliding by our favorite tables one last time just in case we missed anything. The cash is all gone by now and Friday is as close to the weekend as you want to get, for that is when the real crowd comes. It’s getting to be a yearly tradition to end the con adventure with a trip over to the USS Midway and a pin up shoot. This year we worked with a very beautiful young lady named Valerie Neff. We had just met on the model mayhem site a day earlier and set up the shoot the evening before. Nelson and I met Val at the dock and her incredible modeling presence stood out in every casual gesture and stance she took even while simply talking to her. After a quick history we learned that Valerie had come to the states from Peru where she is known as one of the greatest models the country has ever seen; she recently moved to San Diego to try her talents here which only means she will soon conquer our modeling world with her sleek grace and beautifully poetic style. We only shot for a little over an hour, but in that time we shot well over a thousand pictures and went through 4 different costume changes. From my end I have never worked with such a professional, and every picture she posed for turned out incredible. I’m still in awe of her talent and on top of it all she is a very sweet lady with a contagious smile and a love for laughter. I will be writing a much longer post about her soon so today is only a teaser. SO with all that said enjoy the pics and look forward to reading all your comments.

the crowd crossing the street to the convention center

the turbulent sea of geeks n nerds,, Awesome fun,, many of these folks desperatly need deoderant and in a major way, HAAA!

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20 Responses to “2011 and the wrath of comicon, part 1”

Big move – been there and done that – lot of work! Enjoy Wyoming, I’ve only driven through it :)

Looks like COMICON was a blast and these are better pics than I’ve seen so far (especially those last 3!). In need of deodorant = why I know I don;t go to those things. Still, looks to have been fun and can’t wait for more updates!

Wow. Nerd heaven followed by a photo shoot with a Peruvian beauty. Now this is a man who knows what a good vacation is. :D

Great stuff, I’m glad you had a great time and thanks for sharing the awesome pictures. This is likely to be as close to ComiCon as I’ll ever get, so I’m loving every picture. It’s amazing what some people have made, especially those life-like statues, busts and models (I could swear that Darth Maul is real and he’s definitely giving someone the evil eye.) And, of course, you know I love your pinup posts. Valerie is absolutely stunning, a true beauty, I can certainly see why she’s a top model in her native country. :D

As for the move, that sounds like a lot of work, I hope it’s worth it and that it’s the last one your family has to go through. I certainly don’t envy the work you’re doing in that regard. ;)

AWEsome con pics (can’t wait for more) and fantastic shots of Val! I was hooked by the title of the post in my email…you are such a WIT (or a tWIT, not sure sometimes). CCCCAAAAAHHHHNNNNN (yest I mean C for Con)!!!!!

Did you see anything Chuck or Nerd HQ related????? Oh and btw, I think if we had the funds and space, Austin would totally keep life size Star Wars characters in our home….bahahaha. Glad you had a great time :-)